Meet J-Pop’s Biggest Star and Try the Virtual Workout That Keeps Her in Shape

Who is Japan’s biggest pop star? Without a doubt, it is Hatsune Miku, the 16-year-old hologram with fluorescent teal twintails. Surely you’ve heard of the virtual siren, dreamed up by Crypton Future Media’s Hiroyuki Itoh in 2007 as a personified piece of music software—inspired by Japanese manga, science fiction, and a turquoise synthesizer keyboard—only to become an international idol, who was shot for Vogue’s forthcoming Met Gala special issue in custom Givenchy couture.

Itoh himself is not quite sure why Miku inspires such rabid devotion, but we suspect it might have something to do with the vocaloid’s exuberant dancing—charming twists and turns that recall, in an odd way, a jazzercising Jane Fonda. “Her features are not ‘realistic,’ but the way she dances is very expressive,” Itoh explains. “[It] gives her tremendous presence.” Here, as Miku embarks on a 10-city North American tour, six of the singer’s best aerobic dance moves, fit for a pair of virtually perfect abs, arms, and more.